Hot Buns

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I finally got around to pulling the driver side seat out and installing my junk-yard seat foam. Since the foam was from the passenger side of my donor car it’s pretty firm and is an improvement over the sagging, crushed old sponge.

My driver side heated seat hasn’t worked since I bought the car, even though the light illuminates. All of the electrical connections seemed OK so rather than trying my luck with the donor heating element I decided to just swap the thermostat. Once installed it took a couple of whacks of the center console to get the button to work but, sure enough, I started to notice a nice warm sensation in my nether regions.

While the seat was out I took a look at the lumbar support and noticed this little I-shaped rod had detached from its mechanism. I crimped it a bit, snapped it into place and now the lumbar support works. Overall the seat is more comfortable and looks better since I also grabbed a fitted seat cover from the junk-yard.

Now if I can just get the damn headrest out I can put the top of the seat cover on. Working by myself I could not get that damn head rest off, even with my hands up inside the seat pushing the levers. I wrestled with that thing for like 15 minutes but it wouldn’t budge. I can only imagine what I looked like, slumped over the seat, humping away in frustration. Maybe I need to hire an assistant.

Wood Burning Brick

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I spent Saturday replacing the front seat foam on the drivers seat and attempted to fix the seat warmer. The seat is much nicer now, but the heater still isn’t working.

A gent in Switzerland has found an alternative to seat warmers. He went ahead and installed a wood stove in the passenger seat of his car. The image above shows the chimney poking out of the roof. Below is video and an interview:

I assume the translation from this video is “The blower motor in my brick totally blew and there was no way i was going to spend a week digging through my dashboard to fix it. Chainsaw method notwithstanding, I figured it’d be easier to just install a wood-burning stove in the shotgun seat. Not like I’m gonna attract any women with this tank anyway.”

via Jalopnik

The M3 down the block is resting on a rock

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Riding my bike into the studio this Sunday morning I noticed a BMW M3 slouching at the curb. What I thought was a flat tire turned out to be no tires at all. Looks like someone pulled the rims from all 4 paws, leaving the beemer teetering on a block of wood, a cubic rock and one poor rotor. The lug nuts sat conveniently next to each empty wheel well.

Burning a Hole in my Wallet

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My check engine light has been on in my brick ever since I drove through flood waters and stalled out. I’ve changed oil and flushed the transmission but ever since I’ve been getting awful gas mileage. Like 10 mpg city and 15 highway. I haven’t had the funds to get it looked at and am just not going on any long trips. The car runs fine on the highway but lags around town. Stepping on the accelerator just causes the car to pause for a moment, then revs normally. I’m guessing the engine is flooding with an overload of fuel, because if I’m steady on the pedal I don’t have too much of a problem.

I figure the problem is with the O2 sensor, even though I think it’s pretty new, like less than a couple years.

UPDATE: Now that I look at pictures of my catalytic converter install, I realize I have another O2 sensor I can test with. My old cat had cracked but I still have it in my basement, with O2 sensor attached. Looks like I need a new wrench and should start troubleshooting.

Looking at my iPhoto set I see I have tons of pics that I never got around to posting, of things like my overdrive install, flame trap, cat converter, etc. One of these days I should just dump it all onto this site.

Boots Across America

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I walked out of my studio yesterday to find 3 cars booted in a row. Welcome to Hoboken, out-of-towner! Thought it’d make a decent motivational poster. Click to enlarge.